A new report by Swissaid says that in 2022, 435 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of the African continent. A lion's share of the smuggled gold ended up in the UAE, where it was processed and re-exported to other parts of the world. Once gold is processed, most countries mark the processing country as the place of origin. In this way, African gold worth about $31 billion ended up getting smuggled out of the continent, and so it could not contribute to its source country's economy. Most of the smuggled gold came from artisanal mines, which can be unsafe, or run by militant groups who exploit people to fund their own activities.
